A former North Wales policeman who was found hanged near his home had been facing being charged over allegations of sexual abuse of a young girl.

The grandparents of a girl who said she was abused by ex-traffic cop Robert Jones-Welch said they believed he had ‘escaped justice’ by killing himself two days after he was interviewed by police.

Detectives have since written to the family of the girl, who was as young as 12 when the abuse was said to have started, telling them that they had enough evidence to charge him.

Today, they told the Daily Post of their anger that former traffic officer Jones-Welch had "taken the coward’s way out" in taking his own life before he could be charged and tried.

And they revealed chilling details of how, when they first informed their granddaughter Jones-Welch had been found dead, she was able to give them specific details of how and where his life had ended - telling them he had threatened to kill himself if she ever told anyone about their relationship.

The girl’s grandfather, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the youngster, relived the moment the family were first informed of the allegations - which had been been brought to North Wales Police’s attention by a third party, not the girl or her family.

Ex-traffic cop Robert Jones-Welch was being investigated over allegations he had been having a sexual relationship with a young girl

He said: “I was at my daughter’s house. Two policemen and a social worker came and asked if my daughter was in.

“Then they asked if my granddaughter was there and I said she was in school.

“I thought there was something wrong but they asked us to get our daughter, the victim’s mum, to call them back.

“The police officer and social worker interviewed our granddaughter, and then the police came and told us these allegations had been made and they were being taken seriously.”

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“We called in our granddaughter and the rest of the family who were there, sat our granddaughter down and said ‘We have some very bad news to tell you, Robert Jones-Welch has passed away’.

“She immediately jumped up and said ’Did he hang himself? Did he do it in a particular field? From a particular horse shelter? Because he said to me if he was caught that’s what he would do’.

“I was absolutely shattered because that was the realisation that these allegations were in fact true. She said he’d told her some weeks before that if he was caught that is what he was going to do.

The letter from police telling the girl's family that it was felt there was enough evidence to charge Jones-Welch over claims of relationship with underage girl

“She suddenly blurted out words to the effect ‘yes all these allegations are true’.”

The couple say the strain has been immense on the whole family, and the girl's mother has been particularly affected by the discovery.

“He knew what he was doing and he managed to hide it from everybody. To us, the way he did this was even better than text book...he was so clever at doing it. He’s not just manipulated my granddaughter, he’s manipulated the whole family.”

The girl’s grandmother added: “He really has. He’s ruined this family. I’m sure of it. He took the coward’s way didn’t he?”

The family are left trying to pick up the pieces from their shattered lives and feel cheated by the lack of closure in the case.

Robert Jones-Welch was found hanged near to his Anglesey home two days after being quizzed by police

The grandfather said: “Initially when I heard he had taken his own life I thought well, at least she doesn’t have to go through a trial and all that. This might be easier and she might be able to get on with things better.

“Now I think we’ve been deprived of a trial and the chance of having him proved guilty. He knew what would have happened to him in prison.

“He’s deprived us of any justice.”

The grandmother added that the family felt “that’s why he did it”, that he had “planned it”.

A letter from the investigating detective in the case, seen by the Daily Post, said: “Were the perpetrator still alive sufficient evidence exists that he would have been charged for the offences against you.

“In my view the evidence is strong and I would have anticipated a charging decision to have been made by the Crown Prosecution Service.

“I base my assessment upon your credibility as a complainant. Also there is disclosure evidence from other parties in support of your account.”